1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an ice supply system provided at the refrigerator for supplying ice to a user at an outside via a dispenser provided at a door.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A refrigerator is an apparatus for taking storage of foods freshly for a long-term period. Such refrigerator has a food-storage chamber therein. The food-storage chamber is always maintained at a low temperature by a refrigerating cycle for keeping food fresh.
The food-storage chamber is divided into a plurality of storage chambers having different characteristics from each other such that a user can choose a food-storage method in consideration of a kind, a characteristic and an expiration date of food. Typical examples of the storage chambers are a cooling chamber and a freezer.
The cooling chamber keeps a temperature at about 3° C.–4° C. for keeping food and vegetables fresh for a long time. The freezer keeps a temperature at a sub-zero temperature for keeping and storing meat and fish frozen for a long time and making and storing ice. Generally, the cooling chamber is larger than the freezer and the freezer is provided on top of the cooling chamber.
Meanwhile, the refrigerator is developed for performing various additional functions besides a typical function thereof. For example, the user had to open a door and take out a water bottle kept in the cooling chamber to drink cold water kept in the cooling chamber hitherto.
However, a refrigerator having a water dispenser provided at an outside of the door for supplying cold water cooled by cool air of the cooling chamber is developed and the user can drink cold water at outside of the refrigerator without opening the door. Furthermore, a product with water purifying function being added to the water dispenser is being supplied.
The water dispenser generally includes a door enabling to open and close the cooling chamber so as to easily supply water stored in the cooling chamber to an outside thereof. The cooling chamber is provided at a bottom of the freezer and the water dispenser is provided at a relatively lower place. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that the user has to stoop his/her back for using the dispenser.
Meanwhile, the user often uses the ice when the user drinks water or beverage and when the user cooks food. However, in this case, there is an inconvenience that the user has to open the door and separates the ice stored in the ice tray from the ice tray for using the ice. Also, when the door is open for using the ice, cool air in the freezer leaks out to the outside thereof and the temperature of the freezer goes up. Therefore, compressor is required to work more and there is a problem that energy is wasted.